Originally Posted by
EuroChallenger
How high could a 777 actually fly? If for what ever reason, the aircraft was climbing, how high could it physically go before (presumably) a structure failure?
Would radar contact etc be lost if the aircraft went above a certain height?
43,100 is the certified maximum altitude, but it could fly higher. There would not be structural failure. It would simply stop climbing at the limit of its performance for the power and weight. There is also a possibility of the wing stalling or aerodynamic buffet due to the speed of the air flowing over the wings.
You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_corner_(aviation)
Radar contact would not be lost at high altitude.